Treatment of Pulp and Paper Effluent by Electro coagulation

The experiments were carried out in an electro coagulation reactor with aluminum as sacrificial electrodes. The influence of electrolysis time, current density, pH, NaCl concentration, rotational speed of the stirrer and electrode distance on reduction of color, COD and BOD were studied in detail. From the experimental results, 25mA/cm2 current density, pH of 7, 1 g/l NaCl, 100 rpm, 28 ◦C temperature and 1.5 cm electrode distance were found to be optimum for maximum reduction of color, COD and BOD. The reduction of color, COD and BOD under the optimum condition were found to be 92%, 89% and 85% respectively. The electrode energy consumption was calculated and found to be varied from 103kWh/kg depending on the operating conditions. Under optimal operating condition such as 25mA/cm2 current density, pH of 7, 1 g/l NaCl, 100 rpm, 28 ◦C temperature and 1.5 cm electrode distance, The experimental results proved that the electro coagulation is a suitable method for treating pulp and paper plant effluents for reuse.